Wearing apparel with adjustable belt



Nov. 10, 1964 L. F. MYERS WEARING APPAREL WITH ADJUSTABLE BELT FiledFeb. 4, 1963 R ms Wm 5 Mi. my #N M R o 5 y? w 4 0 m W United StatesPatent 3,155,983 WEARING APPAREL WITH ADJUSTABLE BELT Lois F. Myers, 320W. Oak St., Vassar, Mich. Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 255,795 2 Claims.(Cl. 2-76) This invention relates to wearing apparel and moreparticularly to a dress construction utilizing a belt which is attachedto the dress in such manner as to enable adjustment of the belt, withinlimitations, to compensate for differences in waist lengths of girls orwomen who wear the same size dress.

Uniforms for nurses, beauticians, waitresses, and the like, usually areproduced in several sizes in large quantities such as sizes 10, 12, 14,etc. A size 10 dress, for example, may be the correct size for twodifferent women, but one woman may be longer or shorter waisted than theother. Consequently, a belt stitched to the dress at the proper waistposition for one woman would be in an improper position for the otherwoman, and vice versa. Moreover, a belted dress manufactured to a sizeto fit a child frequently must be discarded long before its full Wear isattained, because the growth of the child causes the belt to assume toohigh a position on the waist of the child.

Dress constructions having adjustable belts have been proposedheretofore, but none of the known constructions permits the use ofpleats or ornamentations as freely as dresses wherein the belt isdetachable or wherein no belt is provided.

An object of this invention is to provide a dress construction providedwith an attached belt which is adjustable upwardly or downwardly so asto compensate for difierent waist lengths and to compensate for growthof a child.

Another object of the invention is to provide a belted dressconstruction wherein pleats may be provided in either the bodiceportion, the skirt portion, in both portions, or in neither portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a belted dressconstruction of the kind indicated which permits ornamentation of eitheror both of the skirt and body portions, if desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dress constructionhaving an attached, adjustable height belt and wherein the appearance ofthe belt is the same regardless of its position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed outspecifically or will become apparent from the following description whenit is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a dress constructed inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view, similar to FIGURE 1 but on an enlargedscale;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but illustrating the back of thedress;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating a modified formof the invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIGURE5.

A dress constructed in accordance with the embodiment of the inventiondisclosed in FIGURES 1-4 comprises a body covering bodice portion 1having a front portion 2 divided at 3, and a back portion 4, the dividedfront portion normally being closed by buttons 5 or other suitablemeans. The dress also includes a body covering skirt portion 6 havingfront and rear portions 7 and 3,155,983 Patented Nov. 10, 1964 ICE 8,respectively. As is customary, the skirt includes a hem by means ofwhich the hemline may be adjusted. As is best illustrated in FIGURE 4,the bodice portion 3 terminates at its lower end in an in turned edge 9,and the upper end of the skirt portion also terminates in an in-turnededge 10 that is parallel to, but spaced from, the edge 9.

A belt 11 comprising double layers 12 and 13 of material has the majorportion of one side thereof interposed between the edges 9 and 10 of thebodice and skirt, respectively, and the edges 9 and 10 may be secured toone another and to the side of the belt by means of stitching 14. Ifdesired, a stiffening member 15 may be received between the belt layers12 and 13. Since the belt is secured along only one of its sides, it maybe adjusted upwardly or downwardly, as is indicated in dash lines inFIGURE 4.

The ends of the belt are free of the bodice and skirt, as is indicatedin FIGURE 2, and the belt preferably is of such length as to permit thefree ends to overlap one another. Between the free ends of the belt, theskirt and bodice edges are stitched directly to one another to provide asmooth seam 14a. The construction disclosed in the drawing includes aconventional buckle 16 having a center post 16a to which one end of thebelt is fixed. The opposite end of the belt may be separably secured tothe buckle, as is indicated in FIGURE 1. In lieu of the buckle, oppositeends of the belt may be provided with snap fasteners or other suitableseparable fastening means. In either event, the belt fastening meansshould be such as to permit the belt to have a uniform appearance whenthe belt is in either of its adjusted positions. The free portions ofthe belt should be of such length as to permit fastening of the beltends and to avoid sagging of the free ends of the belt.

In either adjusted position of the belt, the buckle may be manipulatedso as to face outwardly. The belt 10 will be swung upwardly forshort-waisted women and may be swung downwardly for longer-waistedwomen. When a dress is purchased for a growing child, the dress shouldbe of such size that the belt initially may be worn in its upperposition. As the child grows, the hemline of the skirt may be lowered,as is indicated in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, and the belt turned downward so as to enable the dress to be worn and fit properly even after achild has grown several inches.

Inasmuch as the bodice and skirt portions are formed separately andsubsequently joined to one another, it is possible to provide a plainbodice and a pleated skirt, all of the pleats terminating at thejuncture of the bodice and skirt, as is indicated in the drawing.Alternatively, the dress may have a plain or pleated bodice and a plainor pleated skirt, or any combination thereof, or any other variations indesign amenable to dresses having a seam at the waist line. It also ispossible to provide ornamentation such as lace 17 or the like on thebodice or on the skirt and either terminate the ornamentation at thejuncture of the bodice and skirt or continue the ornamentaiton for thefull length of the dress.

As will be apparent from FIGURE 4, both layers 12 and 13 of the belt 11present an identical appearance. Accordingly, the apearance of the beltis the same regardless of the position in which it is worn. Although adouble layer belt has been referred to herein, it should be understoodthat a single thickness, sash type belt may be used, if desired.

When the belt is worn in its upper position with a pleated skirt, theupper ends of the pleats will terminate at the lower edge of the belt,as is indicated in full lines in FIGURE 1. When the belt is worn in itslowered position, the true upper ends of the pleats will lie under thebelt and be obscured from view, but the appearance will be substantiallythe same as when the belt is worn in its upper position.

The embodiment of the invention disclosed in FIG- URES and 6 issubstantially the same as the earlier described embodiment, with theexception that the edges 9 and 10 of the bodice and skirt portions,respectively, are turned outwardly so as to be received between thelayers 12 and 13 at one side of the belt 11. The edges 8 and 9,therefore, lie in back-to-back engagement and are secured to one anotherand to the belt by the stitching 14. At the point where the ends of thebelt are free, the edges 9 and 10 are cut as at 18, turned inwardly, andstitched to one another as at 19 so as to lie face toface and present asmooth seam between the free ends of the belt.

Although the disclosed embodiment of the invention illustrates the dressas having a bodice opening at the front and as being adapted to bucklethe belt at the front, it should be understood that the bodice openingand the free ends of the belt could equally well be located at the backor at the side of the dress.

The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred formof the invention, but is intended to be illustrative rather thandefinitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. An article of wearing apparel comprising a bodice portion having alower edge; a skirt portion having an upper edge adjacent the lower edgeof said bodice portion, the adjacent edges of said portions being turnedoutwardly of the article along the majority of their length and lying inback to back engagement, the remaining length of said edges being turnedinwardly of the article and lying in face to face engagement; a beltformed of two layers of material receiving therebetween the outwardlyturned edges of said portions; stitch means joining said belt along saidone side only to the outwardly turned edges of said portion, therebyenabling said belt to be turned upwardly to overlie said bodice portionor turned downwardly to overlie said skirt portion, said stitch meansalso joining said outwardly turned edges to each other; and other stitchmeans joining the inwardly turned edges of said portions to one another.

2. An article of wearing apparel comprising a bodice portion having alower inturned edge directed inwardly of said article; a skirt portionhaving an upper inturned edge adjacent the lower edge of said bodiceportion and directed inwardly of said article; an elongated belt havingfree ends and opposite side edges, the major portion of one side edge ofsaid belt between its ends being received between the adjacent edges ofsaid bodice and skirt portions; and stitch means securing the adjacentedges of said bodice and skirt portions to one another and to said oneside edge of said belt therebetween, the other side edge of said beltbeing free, whereby said belt is capable of being turned upwardly tooverlie said bodice portion or turned downwardly to overlie said skirtportion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS290,797 Parsons Dec. 25, 1883 564,925 Grafitey July 28, 1896 1,008,493Reed Nov. 14, 1911 1,331,754 Gellenbeck Feb. 24, 1920 2,331,079 PearlOct. 5, 1943 3,059,240 Johnson Oct. 23, 1962

1. AN ARTICLE OF WEARING APPAREL COMPRISING A BODICE PORTION HAVING ALOWER EDGE; A SKIRT PORTION HAVING AN UPPER EDGE ADJACENT THE LOWER EDGEOF SAID BODICE PORTION, THE ADJACENT EDGES OF SAID PORTIONS BEING TURNEDOUTWARDLY OF THE ARTICLE ALONG THE MAJORITY OF THEIR LENGTH AND LYING INBACK TO BACK ENGAGEMENT, THE REMAINING LENGTH OF SAID EDGES BEING TURNEDINWARDLY OF THE ARTICLE AND LYING IN FACE TO FACE ENGAGEMENT; A BELTFORMED OF TWO LAYERS OF MATERIAL RECEIVING THEREBETWEEN THE OUTWARDLYTURNED EDGES OF SAID PORTIONS; STITCH MEANS JOINING SAID BELT ALONG SAIDONE SIDE ONLY TO THE OUTWARDLY TURNED EDGES OF SAID PORTION, THEREBYENABLING SAID BELT TO BE TURNED UPWARDLY TO OVERLIE SAID BODICE PORTIONOR TURNED DOWNWARDLY TO OVERLIE SAID SKIRT PORTION, SAID STITCH MEANSALSO JOINING SAID OUTWARDLY TURNED EDGES TO EACH OTHER; AND OTHER STITCHMEANS JOINING THE INWARDLY TURNED EDGES OF SAID PORTIONS TO ONE ANOTHER.